Company quiet on Kingdom Come's progress

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The production company behind beleaguered biblical epic Kingdom Come, due to be filmed in Waitaki locations, has gone silent on its progress.

The $180 million film about the life of Jesus was scheduled to be shot near Duntroon and at Lake Benmore in 2009 before financial problems forced the production company to abandon the project, owing $5.8m.

An agreement was reached with creditors after High Court action.

The Waitaki District Council confirmed in October that the film-maker, South Vineyards, wanted to revive resource consents to use film sets already set up at Elephant Rocks near Duntroon and at Falstone on the shores of Lake Benmore.

But inquiries over the past week made to the lawyer for South Vineyard, Stephen Brown, as to whether the film sets had been checked by engineers, and on the project's progress, have gone unanswered.

Waitaki District Council property manager Dougall McIntyre said in October the company was engaging an engineer to check the structural integrity of the Falstone site. A Los Angeles-based facilitator was due to visit the area.

However, when approached last week, Mr McIntyre referred the Herald to Mr Brown.

Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton said the film was welcome in the district.

"Certainly we don't have a concern about the sets being there. We are quite happy for that situation to continue.

"We are very flexible, and as long as the sets and the activity don't impinge on other projects we'll be very tolerant of their presence.

"[The company] do have a new lease of life and we hope that they are able to continue, and we are quite positive about their presence and are hopeful about their continuation.

"They have kept us informed and I think that they're hopeful again that the worst of the difficulties is over."